Four teams are currently locked in a competition to design Washington, D.C.'s first elevated park. OMA, Höweler + Yoon, NEXT Architects, and Cooper, Robertson & Partners have just released their preliminary design proposals for what will be known as the 11th Street Bridge Park.
The new park will be suspended over the Anacostia River and will link up two districts of the city. A cafe and water sports area, as well as performance and educational spaces, are included in each design. You can rank the designs and offer feedback here.
The winner will be announced on October 16.
Here are the shortlisted design plans:
Balmori Associates / Cooper, Robertson & Partners
Bridge Park will function as much as a civic center as it will as a park. It is more than a river crossing; it is a place. It will be a pioneer by strengthening the communities that give it life. Through the design of Bridge Park, we believe we can help re-connect the diverse neighborhoods on both sides of the river, re-engage the Anacostia River, improve the general quality of public health through physical and social activity, and generate new jobs for local citizens of the district. Three concepts have shaped our design. Our goal is to create a Bridge Park that is: inclusive, memorable and symbolic.
OLIN / OMA
Our design for the 11th Street Bridge Park—the Anacostia Crossing—is a place of exchange. The park at Anacostia Crossing will connect two historically disparate sides of the river with a series of outdoor programmed spaces and active zones that will provide an engaging place hovering above, yet anchored in, the Anacostia River. To create this place—more destination than elevated throughfare—we have designed the bridge park as a clear moment of intersection where two sides of the river converge and coexist. Anacostia Crossing will offer layered programs, presenting a new neighborhood park, an after-hours destination for the nearby workforce, a retreat for residents and a territory for tourists to explore.
Stoss Landscape Urbanism / Höweler + Yoon Architecture
Historically in Washington, small boats and rafts, then ferries, provided vital links across the city’s rivers, including at places along the Anacostia River. In the not so recent past, ferries shuttled workers living in the Anacostia neighborhood across the river to their jobs in the Navy Yard. These ferry crossings became as much places of congregation and assembly, places of social exchange, as they were places of passage. Our proposal for the 11th Street Bridge Park puts in place a new crossing, one that establishes new connections across and to the Anacostia River and to the burgeoning and socially / culturally rich neighborhoods along its banks.
Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) / NEXT Architects / Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Welcome to Anacostia Landing, a 25-acre park centered on the Anacostia River, gateway to historic Anacostia and extraordinary perch from which to view the District of Columbia’s emergence as a waterfront city. The WRT/NEXT design fulfills this vision by giving coordinated and exciting form to the goals set forth in the competition brief: reconnect diverse communities, reengage people with the river, improve public health through recreation and play, and expand economic opportunity.
Related Stories
Mass Timber | Jul 11, 2023
5 solutions to acoustic issues in mass timber buildings
For all its advantages, mass timber also has a less-heralded quality: its acoustic challenges. Exposed wood ceilings and floors have led to issues with excessive noise. Mass timber experts offer practical solutions to the top five acoustic issues in mass timber buildings.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 11, 2023
Converting downtown office into multifamily residential: Let’s stop and think about this
Is the office-to-residential conversion really what’s best for our downtowns from a cultural, urban, economic perspective? Or is this silver bullet really a poison pill?
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 10, 2023
California updates building code for adaptive reuse of office, retail structures for housing
The California Building Standards Commission recently voted to make it easier to convert commercial properties to residential use. The commission adopted provisions of the International Existing Building Code (IEBC) that allow developers more flexibility for adaptive reuse of retail and office structures.
Laboratories | Jul 10, 2023
U.S. Department of Agriculture opens nation’s first biosafety level 4 containment facility for animal disease research
Replacing a seven-decade-old animal disease center, the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility includes the nation’s first facility with biosafety containment capable of housing large livestock.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 6, 2023
The responsibility of adapting historic university buildings
Shepley Bulfinch's David Whitehill, AIA, believes the adaptive reuse of historic university buildings is not a matter of sentimentality but of practicality, progress, and preservation.
Market Data | Jul 5, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending decreased in May, its first drop in nearly a year
National nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.2% in May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.06 trillion.
Architects | Jul 5, 2023
Niles Bolton Associates promotes Jeffrey Smith, AIA, to President and C. Cannon Reynolds, AIA, to Managing Director
Niles Bolton Associates (NBA), a leading architecture, planning and design firm, announces leadership changes as a part of its ongoing commitment to future growth. Current Executive Vice President, Jeffrey Smith, AIA, has been named President and C. Cannon Reynolds, AIA, has been named Managing Director effective June 30, 2023.
Mixed-Use | Jun 29, 2023
Massive work-live-play development opens in LA's new Cumulus District
VOX at Cumulus, a 14-acre work-live-play development in Los Angeles, offers 910 housing units and 100,000 sf of retail space anchored by a Whole Foods outlet. VOX, one of the largest mixed-use communities to open in the Los Angeles area, features apartments and townhomes with more than one dozen floorplans.
Office Buildings | Jun 28, 2023
When office-to-residential conversion works
The cost and design challenges involved with office-to-residential conversions can be daunting; designers need to devise creative uses to fully utilize the space.
Architects | Jun 28, 2023
CSHQA hires first CEO in company's 134-year history
The Board of Directors of CSHQA announced the appointment of Ryan D. Martin, AIA NCARB as Chief Executive Officer.
